I don't know why everyone is all up in arms over this win. Murray is undeniably a strong player. But it is early in the year. We have 8 months of tournements to decide. So if Rafa is down on his game, the next time he will try even harder. Besides this is only an exhibition game. Let's see what happens in Qatar. Beating Nadal once isn't going to unseat him from his ranking, it just makes him look bad,
which he isn't. The only reason there is all this talk, is because he is ranked #1,
even ahead of Federer, even though Roger won US and Wimbeldon 2008

all credit to murray. they both played great and the match was great! it is obvious that andy has put in the work and that's good. however, i think everyone is up in arms over this win because players use a win over nadal to validate how good they are and tennis fans, etc. use it to predict who will stand out as the best performer during the season. as i recall, similar comments was made about djokovic during the first few months of last season; he was the hottest player on tour; he was to be the next #1, but we all know what happened. when someone defeats nadal you can expect it to be a big deal. the season is just beginning, anything can happen, and players have, "miles to go before they sleep." anyway, if this match is any indication of what's to come, we are in for some thrills and cheers!

Todd
Roger didnt win Wimbledon 2008, Nadal did?

I also think that because everyone said Murray only beat Nadal at the US Open because Nadal was tired etc etc. I think that now both players have been rested this game puts that excuse to bed for good. Yes its a long year to go, but Djokovic was stating he would be number 1, Andy is not, he is only after his first grand slam. This game did show just how competitive both players are. Nadal was trying to reclaim his US loss and Andy was after Nadals scalp to prove the first time was not a fluke. We saw some brilliant tennis, and I also think that makes the tennis 2009 even better for us. I still dont believe that Roger was playing with all gears on Friday, I think he is saving it for the grand slams now.
Time will tell.
Good luck Andy, you did Scotland proud.

I agree with you, memi. It's too early to predict and a lot can happen in the coming months. I dunno how good Murray can be on clay. Even if he wins AO 2009 like Djokovic did in 2008, all the momentum will be halted when the clay court season starts because Nadal is supreme there. Fed had always maintained a good claycourt season in the past, that is why he is able to dominate a whole calendar year. Murray should do the same and I personally think he has the game to end Nadal's reign in Roland Garros (not to say that he will but he is able to)

This was an xhibition ws both fought very hard..nadal said he made sum mistakes but this can be xcused as he is playing a competitive match after 2 mnths...the forehand error at deuce 3-3 final set plus the way he handed the brk to murray via a bakhand error is very uncharacteristic becasue normally u have to win a point against nadal rather than nadal giving u the point...he can cut down his errors and he is trying hard to play more agresively which he is doing so ..so it may take a few weeks for nadal to sharpen his attack game to which he is nt used to..and murray shud remember that nadal is a differetn beast in 5 sets..I AGREE NADAL WS TIRED AT US OPEN..if u dunt beliece this..go watch the match agan..4th set..for the 1st time in my life i saw nadal bent on his knees and breathing xtremely hard..i have seen battles over 5 hrs where rafa is highly energized till the last pnt!!!!

No way murray's game on clay is gud enough to beat nadal..not even on grass yet..on clay the his main weapon of thumping bakhand winers is going to be lost to a large xtent..and u cant earn any kind of free pnts against nadal..murray's clay court skills need alot of development and i dont think he is capable enough rite noe to take even a set away from rafa rite now on clay!!!

vamosrafa you are truly a rafa fan so I won't really argue with you because your comment is biased. I am a Fed fan so I analyse all this without bias. Murray is actually emulating Rafa's game which is based on energy and never-say-die attitude. We'll just have to see if it's good enough on clay. At the moment, Murray is the best on hard court, in my opinion.

torres 9, you are the first person to allude to what i saw last year. i've said it before. it was quite clear to me last year that murray was copying rafa's strategies/tactics;i.e. the way rafa stands back on first serves and moves in on seconds, the way he plays from the baseline, his running forehand, running down every shot, fitness, intensity, etc. , andy has worked very hard on duplicating it. i don't have a problem with a player putting in the work and reaping the benefits, but create your own style, stop taking credit for what someone else has created. its true that andy has talent and can really rise to the top, but a blind man can see that he caught up with being just like rafa. don't take my word for it, observe! i read that in hamburg last year he was watching videos of rafa's movement on clay. go figure! so what does that say about rafa's impact on tennis? apparently, in andy's subtle way, he wants the attention that rafa is getting. we'll see what happens. some food for thought!

Memi...not sure I agree completely with you to be honest. I'm also a Federer fan, so not biased. 1. Murray has been working on his fitness because that is what was holding him back from progressing further in major tournaments, NOT to be more like Nadal. 2. Also, with regards to watching videos of Nadal on cray...he's one of the best clay court players ever so why not have a look at what tactics he employs on his best surface? 3. Andy has always played defensively and from the baseline, that hasn't changed dramatically in the last year to copy Nadal! I think Andy deserves a lot more credit than what you are giving him. Yes Nadal has certainly raised the bar in terms of fitness and intensity, but that doesn't mean that every player who raises his own game is "taking credit for what someone else has created". Your arguments don't make sense.

JAZI..ur coments make a bit more sense to be honest.Murray is a counter puncher sicne the beginning og his career,and used to play defensively till end of 07.It ws 08 when he felt the need to becum agressive on hard courts..step up.This isnt required on hard courts.Now beating nadal..copying him wont help...no way muray can match nadal's energy leve dudes..nadal is a beast even tho andy's physical condition has improved alot.Nadal's and murray's defence can be compared on hard courts but on clay nadal's defence is matchless...djokovic said rafa is the best defensive player ever in tennis after his hamburg loss...andy himself said nadal has the disticnt quality of sliding equally well on both th eleft and right sides on clay..he said nadal's forehand on clay is the best shot in tennis after his hamburg loss...roger said rafa's movement..forehand and bakhand (which is underrared) are as a whole almost peerless....nadal has now improved his serve as well and the ability to crack bakhands is gona help him even more in 09..plus in montecarlo 07 roger mentioned how irritating it is to serve to rafa on clay..he said its almost imposible to earn a free point on serve against him on clay!!! such things make nadal match less on clay..he is going to roll once more..only injuries/miracles can stop him guys!! Andy is rising so fast..the guy deserves plenty of credit bt he has to climb mount everest if he is to match rafa on clay!!!

Hey there, first of all, I just want to say that I do not say Andy will beat Nadal on clay but he has the game to do it. Stop overreacting, peeps. I think there is nothing wrong with copying people's tactic. So many tennis players have been copying Sampras's serves even Fed himself. Fed's forehand is so much like Bjorn Borg but no one ever said it is wrong to have the same style. Andy is a very good student of the game. He knows that to beat Fed, he needs to exceed Fed in the mental and fitness department which is what Nadal did all these years. What I like about Murray is that he is trying to combine Nadal's superior physicality and attitude with Fed's skill, tactics and shotmaking and you have to admire him for that. If he able to achive this, the sky is the limit.

I pretty much agree with everyone except memi. Murray "duplicating" Nadal? Nonsense. If I had to pick one of the very top players of recent years (which Nadal certainly is) to compare Murray with, Nadal would be nearer the bottom than the top of the list. What good professional is not going to recognise and learn from the strengths in others' games? If Nadal himself hasn't done this, he's a fool, which he isn't. To me, the thing that sticks out most and is so refreshing about Murray's game is the sheer variety and often unpredictable nature of the shots he's going to play - not Nadal's most prominent feature. If I had to pick the thing that sticks out to me most about Nadal's game it would be that lethal whipped forehand - not Murray's most prominent feature. Jazi is right about Murray's motives for improving his fitness - to suggest he got the idea of being fit by watching Nadal is an insult to Murray's intelligence. Murray got fit because he was fed up vomiting on court and collapsing in set 4 of the slams ... basically, to allow his already considerable talents to last for a full match. The whole tennis world, and especially Murray's fans, knew two years ago that Murray's biggest challenge was to get fit - a super fit Nadal showed the possibilities, but certainly didn't creat the idea.

guys, this is just my perception! i wasn't looking to win a popularity contest nor was i looking for consensus. i don't deny that andy has the potential to go upward, and suggesting that he got the idea of getting fitter from nadal would be nonsense. that was not my intention! nonetheless, i believe andy's motives are more nadal-oriented than you may think. interestingly enough, i don't recall players getting this worked up over emulating federer, and according to most, federer is arguably the greatest!

Actually Andy didnt improve because of Nadal or anything he did, it was a comment from Federer that Andy took notice off, his mother states that in her blog. Federer said if Andy didnt up his game and fitness he would have a short career. Aftrer that, Andy upped his game. Andy is a far more intelligent tennis player than Nadal, he has more arsnal at his disposal. If you watch, Andy does a shot, then Nadal copies it. Both are roughly the same, Andy trained in Spain so has actually practiced on clay.
No one plays the same, or you could say everyone copied Aggasi as he was the one running up sand hills etc.
This is all great for tennis. Roger has the most beautiful graceful game, being a champion IMO thee GOAT. Andy is trying very hard to include all shots with power and soft skills. He doesnt always go for the big shots, which is part of his game I like. So no matter who you like, you dont have to disrespect the other because your loyalties lie with someone else. I am a Federer and Murray fan, I think Nadal is a nice guy, but his style of tennis bores me. Everyone to their own I say.
Its brought mens tennis to life tho, its not always the big two anymore.

Casper - I agree with you about Fed being a greater influence on Murray than Nadal is, with Murray apparently almost looking up to him as a kind of role model. However, as you say, everyone to their own taste, as I, even though a Murray & Fed fan like yourself, actually find Nadal's blend of accuracy and power really exciting to watch.

I don't really enjoy watching Nadal and Murray play as much as I enjoy watching Fed play. With Fed, it always looked like he was playing an exhibition. Fed always tries to end points faster than anyone except maybe Roddick. I prefer Fed's tennis as much as I prefer watching a 100m sprint rather than a 1000m marathon.

"Fed tries to end points faster". That's saying something, cause they're all running 1000 m marathons if the guys in the 90s were running 100 m races.